In American cities, masked federal agents sow fear
Across the country, federal immigration enforcement agents are concealing their identities. A practice denounced as “alarming” and typical of authoritarian states, it is provoking distrust and tense standoffs, particularly on the streets of Los Angeles.
“Some wear balaclavas. Others wear neck gaiters, sunglasses, and caps. Still others wear masks and street clothes,” The Guardian reports . “Across the country, armed federal immigration enforcement agents are hiding their identities as they conduct raids, arrest protesters, and manhandle prominent Democratic opponents .”
An “alarming” phenomenon, the center-left newspaper underlines in its headline, “for experts in civil rights and law enforcement alike.” Mike German, a former FBI agent interviewed by the Guardian, sees it as a sign of a “drift.”
“I don't know of any time in the United States when law enforcement officers wore masks […]. That's always been the hallmark of police states.”
“The Department of Homeland Security insists that masks are necessary to protect agents’ privacy, claiming they are facing increasing violence, without providing evidence,” the newspaper explains. An argument refuted by a progressive columnist for the New York Times : “People have the right to know who is acting within their state,” writes Jamelle Bouie.
Boston Globe columnist Marcela García recalls that the president
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